Refrigerating apparatus



May 17, 1938. A 'o. M. SUMMERS REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Fil ed April a,1936.

5 Ms ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 17, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATINGAPPARATUS Application April 8, 1936, Serial No. 73,265

1 Claim.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularlyto a mounting for the refrigerating machine.

In the past it has been customary to employ straight sided helicalsprings, that is, springs of helicoid form and of the same diameterthroughout their extension. In a spring mounting arrangement ordevice'for refrigerating machinery such, for example, as the mounting orsuspension of a motor-compressor unit of a refrigerating system in arefrigerator cabinet such springs have been found to give under theweight of the unit and to lean to one side a sufficient distance topermit the supporting rods associated with such devices to touch thesprings and thus create a noise or transmit noise created by the unitand noises of vibration thereof through the spring to the member adaptedto support the unit. Occasionally, the so-called straight sided springsare moved or jarred out of place, by'moving the refrigerator cabinetfrom one locality to another, and into a position to touch thesupporting rods to thus cause the transmission of noise as explained.Therefore,'the use of helicoid springs of the same diameter at both endsthereof for spring mounting devices have not been entirely satisfactoryand my invention is particularly directed to overcoming the objectionsenumerated in the use of spring mounting devices.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved resilientdevice for suspendingly mounting a motor-compressor unit of arefrigerating system from a support therefor.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved resilientdevice for mounting a motorcompressor unit of a refrigerating systemupon a support therefor which device has rubber mem-' bers breaking anymetallic contact between the unit and the support upon which it ismounted.

In carrying out the foregoing objects it is a further and more specificobject of this invention to provide a spring suspension device for amotor-compressor unit -of a refrigerating system which has springs of acharacter and formed or arranged to prevent side sway of the unit inorder to keep the unit centralized relative to the support upon whichthe unit is mounted.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a refrigeratorcabinet showing a motorventional construction. The unit l comprises acompressor H operatively connected, through suitable belt and pulleyconnections l5, with an electric motor Hi. The compressor i4 is adaptedto have a pipe or conduit connected with an evaporator (not shown)mounted within a food storage compartment provided in the cabinet 12. Acompressor l4 withdraws gaseous refrigerant from the evaporator,compresses same, and forwards the compressed refrigerant under pressureinto a condenser-receiver H. The compressed refrigerant within thecondenser-receiver 11 may be cooled in any suitable manner such as byair circulated thereover by a fan l8 mounted upon the shaft of motor l6.Condenser-receiver I1 is also adapted to have a pipe or conduitconnected with the evaporator for conveying condensed liquefiedrefrigerant thereto. The motor I6 and compressor M are mounted in. anysuitable or desirable manner upon a base H). The unit base i9 is of arectangular form and is preferably supported upon the bottom wall of themachine coin- 3 partment H of cabinet l2 by four suitable springsuspension devices generally represented by the reference character 2|and which will be more fully described hereinafter. One. of the springsuspension devices 2| are located at each corner of the base I9 and issupported upon a bracket 22 secured to the bottom wall of -machinecompartment H in any suitable or desirable manner.

Referring now to Fig. 2 of the drawing it will be noted that each springsuspension device 2| generally comprises a helical spring 25 securedbetween the ends of a rigid member such as a rod or bolt 26. The spring25 is of the type having the upper coils or turns thereof of smallerdiameter than the lower turns thereof to form a substantiallycone-shaped helicoid spring. The large end 21 of the cone-shapedhelicoid spring abuts the mounting bracket 22 and fits within adepression 28 provided therein. The small end 29 of spring 25 engages arubber bushing membet 3| surrounding the upper end portion of rod 26. Acup-shaped metal washer 32 lies over and fits on the top of bushingmember 3| and is secured to the device 2| by a nut 33 threaded uponthreads provided on rod 26. It will be noted that the bushing member 3|includes a collarlike portion 33 which extends downwardly from the headportion thereof within the coils of spring to a point closely adjacentthe lower end 2'! of the spring. The rod 26 carries the unit H] byprotruding through an opening provided in the base IQ of the unit.Obviously the weight of unit ||l thereby compresses-spring 25 betweenthe upper end of rod 26 and the bracket 22. A resilient rubber bushingmember 35, in the form of an exact duplicate of the bushing 3| butassembled in device 2| in a reverse position relative to bushing 3|,surrounds the rod 26 and extends through the opening p'rovided in thebase IQ of unit In to a point above the bracket member 22. A cup-shapedmetal washer 36, in the form of an exact duplicate of washer 32, fitsunder the head 31 of bolt or rod 26 and over the head portion of rubberbushing 35. There is a rubber washer or collar 38 fitting over the shankportion of bushing 35 and bearing against the top side of the metal base|9 of unit It). Collar or washer 38 may be of a much softer rubbercomposition than the flexible bushings 3| or 35 so as to deaden anynoises created by vibration of unit base I9 since the same touches orabuts the bracket 22 and provides a resilient connection between thebracket and the base. The soft resilient collar or washer 38 serves as acushion between base l9 and bracket 22 and tends to prevent movement ofthe base relative to the bracket.

It has been found that the particular shape of the spring 25 in device2| as disclosed prevents side sway of unit I!) within cabinet 2 and thatthe spring 25 tends to at all times maintain the unit l0, mounted uponbase I9, centralized relative to the mounting bracket 22. Thus abnormalmovement of unit l0 ordinarily created by the initial starting operationof the motor I6 and compressor H of unit I0 is prevented by the improveddevice 2| from causing the unit Ill to get out of its normal positionwithin the machine compartment H of cabinet I 2. The device 2| preventsengagement of the suspension springs 25 with the rods or bolts 26 uponabnormal sidesway of-the unit I!) and noise ordinarily caused by suchside sway in conventional suspension devices are eliminated by theimproved devices disclosed. It will be noted that the rubber bushingmembers 3| and 35 of the device 2| break the metal to metal contactbetween the unit base l9 and the springs 25 or brackets 22 to thusprevent transmission of noises created by operation of the motor andcompressor of unit It! to the walls of the re frigerator cabinet l2. Thedevice 2| while serving to prevent transmission of noises and to preventside sway of unit II] are also of such construction as to preventabnormal hopping or jumping of the unit Ill within the machinecompartment of the refrigerator cabinet.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided an improvedspring suspension mounting for a refrigerant liquefying and circulatingunit of a refrigerating system within a refrigerator cabinet which, dueto certain parts thereof being duplicates or being identical inconfiguration and formed by being moulded in or punched from the samedie, can be manufactured at low cost thus reducing to a minimum thefinal cost of the apparatus. The improved spring suspension mountingdevices are eflicient and practical in use and overcome certaindifficulties heretofore enumerated in the construction and use of springmounting devices heretofore employed for the purpose herein described.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claim whichfollows.

What is claimed is as follows:

A supporting structure for suspendingly supporting a unit adapted to beoperated and which unit creates vibrations during operation thereofcomprising in combination, a plurality of suspension devices interposedbetween the unit and a member adapted to support same, each of saiddevices comprisinga rigid member extending upwardly from and carryingsaid unit, a sound deadening element interposed between the unit and itspoint of engagement with said rigid 'memher, a spring interposed betweensaid rigid member and the member adapted to support the unit, saidspring engaging said unit support mem-' her and extending upwardlytherefrom around said rigid member, a sound deadening element interposedbetween the spring and its point of attachment to said rigid member,said spring being of a helicoid form and being of greater diameter atone end than at the other end thereof, said spring being positioned insaid device with its greater diametered end bearing against the memberadapted to support the unit for preventing lateral movement of the unitrelative to its supporting member, and said second named sound deadeningelement preventing said spring from creating noises during vibrationthereof.

OTTO M. SUMMERS.

